I'm finally ready for first light with my now completed set-up. Completed for the moment anyway.
I'm intending to start by imaging with a Nikon D7200. I'm looking for a S/H D600 which I'll get modded. My current lens are Samyang 14mm f2.8 (for the Milky Way etc), Tamron 24-70mm f2.8, Tamron 70-200mm f2.8, Sigma 150mm f2.8 Macro and a Nikon 300mm f4 + 1.4 T/C.
I have a HEQ5 Pro with a side-by-side plate to mount the camera, with flash mounted green laser pointer, and my WO 50mm guide scope with ZWO ASI120MM-S to use for drift aligning (?) and when I get into guiding. Initially I'll be doing tracking only till I get the hang of what this astro stuff is about. I have a lap-top with a USB3 port available.
I should say at this stage that I'm reasonably competent with terrestrial photography but have only dipped my toe in the water with the astro stuff.
I'm pretty enclosed at home but I think I have enough clear view to the South and East to get a reasonable alignment with SharpCap and M42 and M45 are very visible at present.
OK, newbie questions:
- Do I need to have any other drivers other than what came on the ZWO disc? It has SharpCap V 2.9 and Firecapture V 2.5.10 on it.
- The WO 50mm 'scope has a FOV of 5.7°. Is that OK for drift aligning?
- So I'll use the guide scope for my drift aligning and then plug in the camera for imaging?
- What is a good, easy to follow program for my imaging capture with a DSLR?
This has been a twelve month process getting to this point with a dud HEQ5 (returned) an NEQ6, too heavy, and the frustration of finding the bits to mount a DSLR camera.
I'm sure I'm over simplifying the whole process so any tips would be most appreciated.